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Controversial posters that state “Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah” will be allowed to appear on public buses and trains in New York City. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Koeltl ruled against the city’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which had tried to reject the advertisements on the grounds that they might incite violence against Jews.

MTA staff “underestimate the tolerant quality of New Yorkers and overestimate the potential impact of these fleeting advertisements,” wrote Judge Koeltl in his decision. “Moreover, there is no evidence that seeing one of these advertisements on the back of a bus would be sufficient to trigger a violent reaction. Therefore, these ads—offensive as they may be—are still entitled to First Amendment protection.”

Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), called the ruling “a triumph for liberty and free speech.” AFDI, a pro-Israel advocacy group, is behind both the MTA lawsuit and the posters, which feature a young Muslim man in a headscarf (ostensibly) expressing the murdering-Jews-pleases-Allah sentiment. “That’s His Jihad,” the ads read. “What’s yours?”

AFDI claims its goal is to criticize Hamas and radical Islam. But in creating anti-Semitic, pro-violence ads that can easily be read as created by Muslims, it seems the group—which has routinely described Muslims as “savages”—may have another agenda, as well.

“Whatever you make of the group, AFDI has been remarkably successful in bringing its message to America,” notes Michael E. Miller at The Washington Post. “AFDI has filed at least nine lawsuits across the country, often against cities or their contractors that refuse to display their messages,” which also include a depiction of Muslim leaders meeting with Adolf Hitler.

While private transit companies could reject such messages, ad space on public transportation is subject to the First Amendment. Perhaps people should rethink their support for government-run transit—not free speech—if this situation bothers them. Another way around the issue without infringing on constitutional rights would be for MTA to ban all advertisements or at least all non-commercial advertisements (something it won’t do because it needs that revenue). As long as buses and subways are government run, however, and as long as they allow political messaging of some sort, we simply can’t have city officials judging which political messages deserve broadcast and which do not.

MTA at least knew that it couldn’t make arbitrary, content-based distinctions on which political ads it would allow, which is why it tried to claim the AFDI ad goes beyond being offensive to actuallyinciting violence—an assertion Judge Koeltl wholly rejected. “The defendants contend that the advertisement could be read as urging a subset of Islamic extremists to follow Hamas’s command, but if that group is as violent and radicalized as the defendants contend, presumably they would not need a bus advertisement to remind them of Hamas’s interpretation of the Quran,” he wrote.

As to MTA’s claim that allowing the ad would run counter to public interest? “Securing First Amendment rights,” wrote Koeltl (quoting an earlier case), “is in the public interest.”

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Possibly disregarding that the Biblical ten plagues were brought down on the Egyptians roughly 3,500 years ago, a popular columnist in the North African nation is calling on his government to take the State of Israel to court for compensation, as reported by the Jerusalem-based news portal Israel Today on April 11, 2014.

Publishing his demands right before the Jewish High Holy Days of Passover (known to Jews as Pesach), popular and respected Cairo-based newspaperman Ahmad al-Gamal raised more than a few Hebrew eyebrows when he blamed “the Children of Israel” instead of Pharaoh for the various plagues that were of … well, Biblical proportions.

As cited in the Book of Exodus, for refusing to free the Hebrews from slavery, the Almighty visited the following plagues upon Egypt:

As al-Gamal argued, it’s been the Egyptian people who have suffered for well over three millennia, so by his reckoning, the Jews owe him. Without due consideration that the statute of limitations may have already passed, the hostile Hamitic complained “We demand that the State of Israel pay compensation for the ten plagues that our forefathers in Egypt suffered thousands of years ago as a result of the curses of the Jewish forefathers.” Not quite done yet, al-Gamal may be under the impression that the plagues have been continuous since approximately 1,500 BC when he penned “What is written in the Torah is that Pharaoh discriminated against the children of Israel. What have we to do with it? We therefore need not suffer!”

According to the American Lawyers Quarterly, the standard Egyptian statute of limitations is normally between five to fifteen years. Nonetheless, al-Gamal demands the Jewish State be brought before the docket due to the Tribe of Israel wandering in the wilderness for 40 years “the Children of Israel enjoyed our goods, which they stole before abandoning us.”

As cited by Israel Today, a handful of Israeli pundits have fired back at al-Gamal that possibly their country could and would consider reparations, just as soon as Egypt pays them back for making slaves of the Hebrew people 3,500 years ago.

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Experts are scoffing at President Barack Obama’s apparent belief that widespread Muslim hatred of Jews is only decades old.

“Obama reveals that he has no idea, or doesn’t want to give the impression that he has any idea, about the reality of Islamic anti-Semitism,” said Robert Spencer, the author of many books on Islamic ideas and director of Jihad Watch.

“Anti-Semitism is hard-wired into Islam,” from its origins before 700, said Andrew Bostom, author of three books about Islam, including “The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism,” which lists centuries of anti-Semitic hatred, murders, pogroms and apartheid-like discrimination.

Intellectuals, politicians and diplomats are loath to admit the centrality of anti-Semitism in Islamic beliefs, because it fuels conflict with Israel and the West and it can’t be fixed by Westerners, Bostom said. ”You’re dealing with an intractable situation, and people hate intractable situations,” he said, adding “diplomats are the worst.”

“With respect to Israel, the interests of Israel in stability and security are actually very closely aligned with the interests of the Sunni states,” Obama said.

The “Sunni states” are nations populated by Arabs who believe in the mainstream Sunni version of Islam. In contrast, Iran advocates the Shia version of Islam, which is endorsed by roughly 10 percent of Muslims.

“What’s preventing them from entering into even an informal alliance [against Shia-run Iran] with at least normalized diplomatic relations is not that their interests are profoundly in conflict but the Palestinian issue, as well as a long history of anti-Semitism that’s developed over the course of decades there, and anti-Arab sentiment that’s increased inside of Israel based on seeing [Jewish] buses being blown up,” Obama said.

“If you can start unwinding some of that, that creates a new equilibrium,” he said.

“The Palestinian issue,” is the refusal by Muslims to recognize the right of Jews to have a Jewish government in the historically Jewish homeland around Jerusalem.

However, the refusal to recognize Israel is entwined with Islamic anti-Semitism, which Obama claimed “has developed over the course of decades there.”

Obama’s “course of decades” comment “ignores the numerous anti-Semitic teachings of the Quran and other Islamic texts — most notably the Quran’s designation of the Jews as the worst enemies of the believers,” Spencer said.

For example, Spencer cited the fifth chapter of the Quran, which declares that “If [Jews] believed in Allah and the Prophet and that which is revealed unto him, they would not choose them for their friends. But many of them are of evil conduct. Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews and the idolaters.”

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Tehran ramps up rhetoric against the West and the Jewish state amid international debate on punitive strike at Assad

An American attack on Syria will result in the destruction of Israel and have severe repercussions for the US and its allies, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said.

A possible war in Syria “will result in the imminent destruction of the Zionist regime of Israel,” General Mohammad Ali Jafari said late Wednesday, according to a report Thursday in the state-sponsored Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

The American “proxy war scenario” in Syria has failed, so Washington and the West have resorted to a “direct military threat,” which, if carried out, will have “severe consequences,” he added.

The remarks fromJafari came at a time of intense international debate over a possible US-led strike on Syria, and followed bellicose statements from other high-ranking Iranian officials. Iran is a major backer of the Syrian government.

Military intervention in Syria by the US and its allies will “cost them dearly,” the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Hassan Firouzabadi, said Wednesday evening. “If the US attacks, the Zionists will burn,” he said, according to Israel’s Channel 2 news. He added that Israel would be the “sole beneficiary” of military escalation in Syria, which would have “far-reaching, grave consequences.”

“Any new military operation could prove to be a disaster not only for the region but also for humanity …and only the Zionists would benefit from that,” Firouzabadi said. The Syrian civil war, he added, had been “imposed” on the country from outside forces.

In comments Wednesday directed at the US, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a meeting with members of the new Iranian cabinet in Tehran that “the US threats and possible intervention in Syria are a disaster for the region. And if such an act is done, certainly, the Americans will sustain damage like when they interfered in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

He cautioned the US and its allies that their military intervention in Syria would bring increase in hatred of them, the Fars news agency reported.

“Starting this fire will be like a spark in a large store of gunpowder, with unclear and unspecified outcomes and consequences,” Khamenei said.

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larjiani, said, “The result of such an unwise measure (a military attack on Syria) is regional anarchy which will entangle the naïve countries of the region.”

Speaking in parliament, he said that if any war was waged against Syria, “the country which has been destroyed by the terrorists during the past two years will not sustain so much damage as the warmongers will receive in this war.”

A senior Iranian lawmaker says Israel will be the “first victim” of any U.S.-led military strike on Syria, predicting that President Bashar Assad’s regime would fight back against the Jewish state.

“No military attack will be waged against Syria,” Hossein Sheikholeslam, the director general of the Iranian parliament’s International Affairs bureau, was quoted saying Monday by Iran’s Fars News Agency, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

“Yet, if such an incident takes place… the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that his country would respond “with force” if Syria does anything to harm it. His comments were his sternest on record on Syria.

The State of Israel is ready for any scenario. We are not part of the civil war in Syria but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength,” Netanyahu said after a meeting with his security advisers, his second in as many days.

However, Netanyahu’s 11-second message was widely seen in Israel as an attempt to deter Syria rather than to escalate the crisis. And Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of the General Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz spoke in similar vein Tuesday evening.

“We hear the threats,” said Ya’alon, “even though we are not involved in the Syrian civil war.” He added: “We say loud and clear, whoever dares to test us will meet the power of the IDF.

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Senior Syrian and Iranian officials have again warned that should the US pursue military action in Syria, the state of Israel will find itself firmly and immediately in their crosshairs.

“If Damascus comes under attack, Tel Aviv will be targeted too and a full-scale war against Syria will actually issue a license for attacking Israel,” said a Syrian army official in comments to Iran’s Fars News Agency.

“We are rest assured that if Syria is attacked, Israel will also be set on fire and such an attack will, in turn, engage Syria’s neighbors,” the official said, maintaining anonymity during the interview.

The army official also stated that if the US chooses to help Al Qaeda-linked jihadists in Syria, their will be significant blowback in Israel.

“Weakening the central government in Damascus will actually start growing attacks on Israel and will create insecurity for that regime,” he said.

“Thus, a U.S. attack on Syria will herald frequent strikes and attacks on Israel, not just by Damascus and its allies in retaliation, but by extremist groups who will find a ground for staging their aspirations,” the official added.

Senior Iranian officialsechoed the comments, with Hossein Sheikholeslam, the director-general of the parliament for International Affairs telling Fars News that “the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria.”

Iranian Member of Parliament Mansur Haqiqatpur was also quoted as saying that “In case of a U.S. military strike against Syria, the flames of outrage of the region’s revolutionaries will point toward the Zionist regime.”

The fresh threats come in the wake of similar comments made earlier in the week by Syrian Deputy Information Minister Halaf Al-Maftah who warned that Israel will “come under fire” should the United states strike against the Assad regime. He added that the Syrian government has “strategic weapons aimed at Israel,” and warned that “If the US or Israel err through aggression and exploit the chemical issue, the region will go up in endless flames, affecting not only the area’s security, but the world’s.”

Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom quoted Muftah as also warning “It’s possible to say unambiguously that a process of war against Syria could lead to an all-out world war. The responsibility for that will rest on the US and the Zionist entity’s shoulders.”

The Beirut Daily Starquoted a “senior source close to” Hezbollah as saying that in the event of major Western strike against Syria “Hezbollah will fight on various fronts,” and predicting an immediate “inferno of a war with Israel.”

Pro-Hezbollah cleric, Afif Nabulsi, who is closely aligned with the Syrian and Iranian governments, was also quoted as saying that “any [US] strike against Syria will be met by harsh responses against US interests in the region and against Israel directly.”

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated in a radio interview that the country would retaliate if Israel “exploits a strike against Syria to attack Hezbollah.”

In response to the threats, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said “The State of Israel is ready for any scenario.” Following a meeting with security officials in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said “We are not part of the civil war in Syria, but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength.”

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that an American military operation on Syria is scheduled to start Friday night, early Saturday Aug. 30-31. The report adds that US forces are finalizing a a major buildup at the huge US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

“US air force reinforcements in Qatar will stand ready to rush to the aid of US allies – Israel, Jordan and Turkey – in the event of their coming under Syrian Scud attack.” the report states, adding that on the opposite side the Syrian army has been scattering personnel, weapons and air assets to pre prepared fortified shelters in order to limit damage and losses.

“Syrian army command centers in Homs, Hama, Latakia and the Aleppo region were also being split up and dispersed, after a tip-off to Syrian and Russian intelligence that they would be targeted by the US strike.” the report adds.

The Associated Press also reports that Israel has ordered a special call-up of hundreds of reserve troops to beef up civil defense preparations and to operate air-defense units near the border. Defense officials have confirmed the deployment of Iron Dome and Patriot missile-defense batteries in areas near the Syrian border, stating that they believe a US strike on Syria is imminent.

The intelligence supposedly handed to the US and its allies suggesting that the Syrian army was involved in the chemical attacks last week is said to have come predominantly via Israeli intelligence agencies.

While Chinese and Russian officials continue to warn of the grave global consequences of a US strike on Syria, Russian citizens are currently being evacuated out of the country.

Meanwhile even firebrand broadcaster Glenn Beck has come out against intervention in Syria, warning that because of China and Russia’s alignment with Iran and Syria, a wider war in the middle east would mean that the US “would not survive”.

Beck warned that “this is World War 3 in the making,” noting the Obama administration is on the exact same destructive warpath that the Bush government set out on 12 years ago.

Beck desperately appealed to his conservative listener base to find common ground with real liberals and hold huge anti-war rallies.

A MUST WATCH video during which Jamal Zahalka, an Arab-Israeli Knesset member (Balad) stands up during a legislative session and informs his fellow minister, a Jewish-Israeli in the room, that “we were here before you, and we will be here after you too!”

Zahalka was “replying” to a statement made by Moti Yogev, (Bet Yehudi) another Knesset member who was speaking in favor of a new law that is currently being considered by the Israeli legislative body.

The new law would dictate that a popular vote must be taken before Israel agrees to any future “land swaps” or “land returns” with the Palestinians. If the popular vote does not favor the notion, the hands of lawmakers would be tied.

Zahalka initially stated that such a law should not even be considered since Israel is discussing “conquered and sieged land” which by international law does not even belong to Israel. Zahalka suggested that as long as international law was being considered, perhaps the return of the so-called settlements should be voted on by various countries, and not the Israeli people.

Yogev replied to Zahalka: “The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel and you are the stranger here.”

Zahalka responded with: “We were here before you, and we will be here after you too!”

This statement led to a heated exchange of words between Zahalka and Yuval Steinitz, (Likud Beitenu) another Knesset member. Zahalka’s statement caused a general uproar in the legislative body while in session.

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu interrupted the session to reply to this statement.

Watch what he says! (Subtitles included.)

Netanyau began by saying he had no intention of speaking at the legislative meeting, however, he said, responding directly to Zahalka: “You said you were here before us, and that you would be here after us too. The first part – is wrong. The second part – will not happen.”

After Netanyahu’s strong reply, MK Zahalka requested to “clarify” his statement, and said that he was not referring to Steinitz as a “Jew” but rather as “a racist.” Zahalka also stated that he believes that peace can be achieved if Jews and Arabs stand together as one people, “without racists.”

MK Zahalka is known for his criticism of Israeli policy, often referring to Gaza and the West Bank as “an apartheid system.”

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What is truly puzzling about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposing to release more than 100 of the worst Palestinian terrorists to have ever murdered Israelis is that it is impossible to figure out any reason for him to do so. It is not just that one might oppose this plan, it is that I cannot think of a single reason for supporting it. Let’s go very carefully through the arguments, and try to find a reasonable one.

It is true, of course, that Israel has released prisoners before. Yet under different circumstances.

In one case, prisoners — sometimes in very large numbers — were released in exchange for Israeli soldiers. This could be controversial, but also one could make a case for it. The prisoners might have been convicted on less serious charges, or they might have been near the end of their imprisonment. There was a nobility in putting the value of Israelis high, keeping the promise of doing everything possible to rescue them. And while the families of the victims could be considered, so could the families of the captives.

A second rationale for such releases is for a calculation of diplomatic gain. Perhaps the release of some prisoners will help bring a ceasefire, or get serious negotiations going — when we thought that these were possible — or get some valuable gains or material benefits from the West.

I have supported such past releases, painful and dangerous as they were.

But the curiosity here: why is Israel releasing the worst terrorists for no gain? Not even good publicity?

Surely it isn’t for domestic popularity. Because Israelis hate this decision.

Nor is it related to the previous Netanyahu strategy, which has been to humor Obama, play along, keep him happy, make minimal and low-cost concessions, and let the PA show it doesn’t want to make peace.

Nor will it get Israel any good publicity in Europe or America. On the contrary, the mass media will not tell the readers and viewers the extent of the crimes perpetrated by these terrorists, or generate sympathy for the real victims. If anything, the coverage will emphasize sympathy for the terrorists’ families, and leave the impression that the terrorists were political prisoners arrested for no good reason by the cruel occupation authorities.

Is the PA offering something? No.

Any hint that the PA will suspend the demand that all Palestinians can come live in Israel (and subvert it), or that it will recognize Israel as a Jewish state, or that the pre-1970 lines will be altered in Israel’s favor? No.

Any concession will be pocketed, and then the PA will demand more. We know that. The strategy of unilateral creation of Palestine, without any deal at all, will continue.

Perhaps some big prize will be given by the United States? Well, like what? In Egypt and Syria the United States is supporting the Muslim Brotherhood against Israel’s interests. In Turkey, Obama loves an anti-Israel Turkish government.

Is there some secret American promise? Well, what is an Obama promise worth? Obama has gone back on a pledge to support a frontier change to allow Israel to include large settlement blocs. And then there was Turkey, where President Obama personally mediated a deal in which Israel made concessions, than he did nothing when Turkey ignored all the provisions and openly broke the agreement.

Remember how Obama asked Israel for a construction freeze on settlements … and then gave it no credit when it did so? Twice?

Archaeological discoveries have a way of exciting Biblical enthusiasts and history buffs, alike. While some findings seemingly corroborate religious sentiment others offer up new and fascinating information about past cultures and ways of life. Last week, Israeli archaeologists found the earliest sample of written text ever found in Jerusalem.

The piece that was discovered is part of a ceramic necklace jar — one that dates back to the time of Kings David and Solomon, Haaretz reports. The relic was found near the southern wall of the Old City.

It is significant mainly because the text, which is in the Canaanite language, is 250 years older than the earliest known Hebrew writings found in Jerusalem. This latter inscription dates back to the eighth century BC.

The meaning of the inscription is unknown, but it contains eight letters, which could be part of the name of the jar’s owner or a description of its contents. Reading from left to right, the text contains a combination of letters, approximately 2.5 cm tall, which translate to m, q, p, h, n, (possibly) l, and n.

The inscription was engraved near the edge of the jar before it was fired, and only a fragment of it has been found, along with fragments of six large jars of the same type.

Dr. Eilat Mazar is leading the dig, which is being conducted in collaboration with the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the East Jerusalem Development Company.

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Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, in middle, says Israel’s days are numbered. (Wolnyiran)

Top Iranian Basij commander Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi says the the Syrian crisis will end with collapse of the Zionist regime.Fars News reported:

Commander of Iran’s Basij (volunteer) Force Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi underlined that the current crisis in Syria will terminate with the collapse of the Zionist regime.

“The end of (crisis in) Syria will lead to the collapse of the Zionist regime,” Naqdi said in the Northern province of Golestan on Saturday night.

Elsewhere, he referred to the recent unrests in Turkey, and stressed, “What is happening in Turkey is a lesson for those who say that we should turn to the West.” In relevant remarks on Saturday, Naqdi underlined that the recent unrest in Turkey is the result of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy of concession to the demands of Washington and other western countries.

“Today, the Turkish government has reached a point that the streets in Turkey are the scene of conflicts every day due to the propaganda of the western media, and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is complaining about BBC and CNN (‘s biased reports),” Naqdi said in Tehran.

“This is the result of interaction with the US,” he added.

The unrest in Turkey began on May 31 after the police broke up a sit-in held at Istanbul’s Taksim Square to protest against the proposal to demolish Gezi Park.